Monday, 28 November 2016

The subway train was eerily quiet on the day after the
election. As usual my fellow travelers averted their gaze, but there was a
certain wariness in the eyes of African-Americans that I hadn’t seen since the
Giuliani mayoralty.

I felt like shouting, “Hey, I didn’t vote for Trump.” But
what was the point? Back in the day, I didn’t vote for Giuliani either.

On the other hand, congratulations, President-Elect Trump!
You won fair and square, aided by Secretary Clinton’s spectacularly inept
campaign.

Leaving aside her email server debacle, ceding the campaign trail
to her opponent’s monster meetings, and employing a tone deaf, numbers-cruncher
like Robby Mook as campaign manager was political suicide.

Sure, there was anger out in the hinterland that might have
swept aside any Democrat this year. That anger will not dissipate under a Trump
administration. Coalmines will not reopen due to the availability of cheap
natural gas, and the industries that have moved overseas because of lower wages
are gone forever. Capitalism, indeed, can be cruel.

A nod to the wise, if you were thinking of nailing down a
mortgage or any kind of loan, move fast, interest rates are already rising.

President Trump intends increasing infrastructure spending
to the tune of a trillion bucks. Hallelujah! Many of us have been urging such a
move for years; however, the Republican controlled congress wouldn’t okay it
for President Obama.

One caveat - fiscal intervention seems to work best when
used at the height of unemployment, with the debt repaid during the ensuing boom.
But we are already down to 4.9% unemployment while this year’s third quarter
boasted a not insignificant 2.9% in US economic growth.

Not to mention that the president-elect is also promising to
cut taxes, particularly for the wealthy. These two initiatives combined will
lead to a ballooning of the deficit and a consequent increase in interest
rates.

Still, the new president claims to the “the king of debt.”
So, let’s hope he knows something we don’t.

Don’t get me wrong! I wish the man and his economic policies
much success – we’re all in this together. It’s just that his agenda seems to be
a recipe for a bracing increase in the cost of living.

Send millions of undocumented people south and you cut the
workforce correspondingly. What native-born American is willing to step into
the many poorly paid jobs that will be vacated?

Dump the Affordable Care Act and health insurance costs will
rise – assuming you can get insured in the first place; and forget about
crossing state lines for your new inexpensive coverage – imagine showing your
doctor’s receptionist your brand new Mississippi insurance card.

Of course we’re all to blame for not questioning Mr. Trump on
the specifics of his policies during the campaign. Not that he would have
answered – “kings of debt” rarely do – they renegotiate or declare bankruptcy.

I don’t doubt that income inequality and the loss of decent
paying jobs fueled the pitchfork uprising that we just witnessed.
Unfortunately, Mr. Trump’s policies will likely lead to more of the same,
particularly if he gets into trade wars with China, Mexico, or God forbid,
Pearl River.

I hope I’m wrong but inflation looms on the horizon.
Mercifully we have been spared this specter over most of the Bush/Obama years.
Once inflation rises it’s a tough nut to crack, as anyone who lived through the
Carter years will remember.

Leaving aside economics, we should not forget that the genie
of racism, anti-Semitism, and other taboos were deliberately uncorked during
the election. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to notice that Mr. Trump did not
disavow the despicable David Duke’s support until after some important Southern
Republican primaries were won.

It’s hard to put that genie back in the bottle. This
malignant and powerful little fellow was only too apparent on my subway train the
morning after the election.

The country has done major work banishing his like and
influence over the last eight years. Let’s hope this genie does not become a
major player in President-Elect Trump’s campaign to make America great again.

Sunday, 13 November 2016

I can measure my life in terms of bars. They stretch across
two continents: The Wren’s Nest in Wexford, The Hideaway in Rathmines,
Tomorrow’s Lounge in Bay Ridge, Dirty Nelly’s and The Village Pub in The Bronx,
Paddy Reilly’s, Rocky Sullivan’s and Connolly’s in Manhattan.

I only have to hear these names and a host of smiling faces
materializes, for we Irish treasure our pubs. When all else fails and the world
doubts you, you’ll always find a welcome in your local.

In terms of longevity Mary’s Bar at the top of Wexford’s
Cornmarket has a hold on me like no other. I was raised in nearby George’s
Street and passed by its old style shop front most days of my youth.

My grandfather, usually a teetotaler, drank there so I
witnessed its once mysterious interior through a child’s eyes, the walls hung
with pictures of Robert Emmet, Wolfe Tone and Padraig Pearse.

I didn’t realize it then, but I had stepped into a piece of history.
The pub dates back to 1775; an “early house,” it opened at 7am
for the Cornmarket workers, and those who unloaded the coal boats down on
Wexford Quay. It closed at 3pm.

But then I walked amidst history every day
while growing up in George’s Street. Nearby stood Selskar Abbey where Henry II
did penance for the murder of Thomas a’Becket. While just down from Cornmarket,
Cromwell’s roundheads slaughtered 300 women and children in the town square
known as The Bull Ring.

If Mary’s Bar is festooned with rebel pictures
there’s a reason. The Cornmarket area was a vital part of Wexford’s Free French
Republic declared during the Uprising of 1798. Indeed the leaders of this
rebellious secular state held a dinner to celebrate their declaration of
independence in a “gentry house” on my own George’s Street.

Built at the same time, my grandfather’s old
town house has long ago been converted into flats but the memories throb from
within every time I pass by. The little houses on nearby Abbey Street have for
the most part been demolished, but the far-flung residents and their children
still return to Mary’s Bar.

I only go home now once a year and rarely
stay more than a night. I do a concert in Wexford’s Arts Centre, formerly the
Town Hall where I learned to play the guitar standing on one foot – the other
was often needed to kick away Teddyboys as they fought in front of the
bandstand.

I always go to Mary’s Bar after the gig and
the smiles of welcome light up as I walk in the door. Catherine Kielty, the
proprietor, will stop what she’s doing and give me a hug. It’s the welcome home
that every emigrant craves.

I never know whom I’ll meet: a school
friend returned from England, an old girlfriend and her grown children. But ghosts
crowd the place too, including my grandfather perched unsmiling on a stool – he
found little joy in falling off the wagon. Turn quickly and I might catch Catherine’s
father, Joss Kielty, beaming a welcome home from his corner.

I usually have a busload or two of
Americans with me. I try to show them the hidden Ireland, untouched by tourists
and, often, locals. Through such visits Mary’s has become known in the nooks
and crannies of the US and Canada, and few people who have raised a glass there
forget its honest charms.

For they recognize the uniqueness of the
place. It’s not just a pub; it’s a portal to the past. There’s still a spirit
there that speaks of a forgotten Ireland.

I first heard “One Starry Night” sung on
the pavement outside by an old traveler, and as a boy I followed Paddy “Pecker”
Dunne into its smoky darkness, entranced by his songs and rugged independence.

Musicians always recognize the essence of the
place, for you hear the same soulful echoes as in Tipitinas in New Orleans
where Doctor John and Fats Domino presided.

Times have been tough on the old
working-class pubs of Ireland. Customers move away or pass on. But Mary’s is
more than a bar; it’s a site-specific, living museum that houses the old spirit
of Wexford Town. Long may it prosper.

Thursday, 3 November 2016

I’m
throwing in my lot with Hillary Clinton, even though I swore I’d never darken
her door again after she voted to invade Iraq.

Basically,
Donald Trump scares the living daylights out of me. Now I won’t even get into his
rooster ranting on the tape with Billy Bush. Anyone who has heard him on Howard
Stern knows full well where he stands on such matters; besides, women are only
dying to clean his clock on Nov. 8th.

Mr.
Trump claims there’s a media bias against him. Nothing could be further from
the truth for he’s been given a free pass on his woeful economic and security
policies this whole campaign.

I
will say one thing for him – he does recognize that investing in infrastructure
is vital for our changing economy.

If
there’s one thing that the Great Recession has made clear – Keynesian economics
works. When the economy stagnates it behooves the government to invest in it.
Look at how quickly the US economy has recovered compared to the European model
where austerity policies were favored.

So
is Mr. Trump a disciple of Keynes? Well, yes, in the sense that he believes in
borrowing to promote growth – with the caveat that he prefers to renegotiate loans
and has no problem in declaring bankruptcy.

This
would not be a prudent way to run the country, as was shown when the markets
swooned on his suggestion that he would renegotiate federal loans; talk about
delivering a Ringsend uppercut to US creditworthiness and the dollar.

Worse
still, he favors massive tax cuts that he claims would create a tidal wave of
revenue. Bitter experience, however, suggests that this traditional Republican
fiscal policy rarely works.

Now
it may seem that I often put undue emphasis on the health of financial markets,
but collapsing stock prices are anathema to the many Americans dependent on
401(k) accounts for retirement. Be warned - the occasional time Mr. Trump’s
poll numbers rise the markets correspondingly dive.

Notwithstanding
his threat of pitchfork revolution Wall Street does not fear reform under a
Trump presidency; however it trembles at his general untrustworthiness and the
likelihood that he might cause another “huge” recession.

I
share Wall Street’s pain – recessions are no fun.So despite Iraq, emails and the hubris that swirls around
the Clinton family I’m voting conservative. At least Mrs. Clinton is unlikely
to declare bankruptcy and turn the US into another Atlantic City.

Let’s
take a look at security, and making America great again. Is that code for invading
other countries, blowing the hell out of their infrastructures, and then spending
billions rebuilding – not to mention slaughtering and maiming their inhabitants?

None of the last wars of choice
have been successful. Raw power doesn’t do the trick any more, as was shown in
Iraq where a $15 IED could blow up a $150K US Army Humvee. The world has become
very complicated and interconnected; it has little tolerance for Mr. Trump’s
bull in a china shop tactics.

As
for slapping tariffs on Mexico and China - be prepared for economic wars and the
loss of millions of jobs. Also brace yourself for rising prices on imports that
will lead to inflation, soaring interest rates, and another recession. Let’s
not even revisit the ridiculous idea of a wall that Mexico will pay for.

I suppose I should mention that Mr.
Trump’s ongoing xenophobic and provocative statements have once again exposed
the ugly seam of racism and know-nothing extremism that is only too willing to
surface in times of national stress.

But I’ve little doubt that once he
has lost the election and his “brand” has suffered financially that a kinder,
gentler Trump will re-emerge. Let’s hope his followers – many of whom have
genuine grievances – will then see him for what he really is as the door slams
behind him in his ivory New York tower.

As
for me, I’m voting conservative this year. I think the ghost of James Connolly
will understand.